Choosing the Right Online Discussion Format

There was a great discussion on the Progressive Exchange discussion list recently about various kinds of discussion forums. One of the participants asked about the difference between things like bulletin boards and chat rooms, and advice on online methods for parents to exchange ideas.

Lars Hasselblad Torres of Mixed Media had some really useful thoughts on this topic, which I wanted to share here, with his permission:

A "chat room" will generally refer to an application that enables synchronous (as in, we're talking online - "same time, same box") conversation via text (though voice and video is catching up quick). A bulletin board can be one of several things including:

• a place to post announcements online
• a place to create and participate in discussions (via threads, which are like discussion topics)

And of course there are blogs and other comment-driven forums...

Choosing the right forum really depends on several key elements, among them:

• goals (attract members, collect points of view, engage members, answer questions, etc)
• timing (will topics go on forever, or be time-bound in some way?)
• participants (open to the public, or for a specific target audience, i.e. “members” or a demographic)

Also, sort out your "theory" of dialogue (honestly, in my opinion, no one can definitively answer these questions for you):

• should it be "facilitated" or moderated?
• must it take place through the web, or is email really "Queen"?
• does it happen "best" in small or large groups?
• should it result it "action"?

Finally, you will soon find yourself wading through a host of possibilities, and many great folks with a solution. I would say, start with the basics (OnlineGroups.net, CommunityServer, or phpBB for example). And, depending on your branding needs, Yahoo Groups and Google Groups still remain advanced and powerful tools that shouldn't be overlooked.

Start small, become comfortable with the "art" of hosting, and develop your own clear sense of what you want based on the needs and patterns of your unique community. From there, you will be better prepared to speak with vendors (ie Dialogue Circles, Neighborhood America, WebLab). At the same time, check out how some of the leading communities power their dialogues - you can read about it, but there is nothing like experience. I recommend ethepeople.org.

My first bit of bad news is that the "basics" will revolve around and depend upon your intent. Plus, there are lots of unanswered questions. For example do self-moderated groups perform better than moderated groups? We don't really know, though everybody has a hunch... On the good news side, there are lots of great resources for hosting "good" online discussions. A chat with experienced people like the folks at Group Jazz, Full Circle Associates, and SocialSignal will definitely put you leagues ahead of the self-starter crowd.

For my own part, I suggest approaching online communities with caution. I posted my own thoughts to this list, excerpted here:

For an online community, you need a large, online audience, who is very engaged with your organization, and a staff commitment to seed the content and answer questions. In starting a community, you have what a friend of mine calls the "Empty Disco Syndrome" - no one's talking because no one else is talking - and you need a lot of momentum to overcome that.

Though I will admit that an audience of parents of kids with special needs sounds like it might be a good fit (they sound like they may be very motivated to talk to each other).

If you've never done anything with virtual communities, most constituents and organizations find an email discussion list to be an easier starting point. I typically recommend that people start with a discussion list and graduate to an online forum if the email list is so active and vibrant and useful that email isn't the best place for it anymore (a good problem to have!)

For some more great resources on this topic, check out Full Circle Associates' resources page.